Article from NY Times 11/22/99
Washington, Nov. 22 - The FCC has proposed that broadcasters be required to adopt
technology allowing the blind to follow the action on television by listening to a
narrator describe it.
The proposal, part of a broader FCC plan to make telecommunications more accessible to
Americans with disabilities, would introduce to a large number of stations an innovation
that is now used, voluntarily by just a few - most of them public television channels -
which apply the technology to a limited number of programs.
"Television is the most important cultural medium in our society," William E.
Kennard, the commission's chairman, said in an interview. "It is a shared experience
that connects people. And we must do all that we can to break down the barriers to
it." Of the 54 million Americans with disabilities, the commission says, 8 million to
12 million are blind or have only partial sight. "We cannot leave these people
behind,: Mr. Kennard said.

The technology works by allowing the user to turn on a secondary audio programming
channel, where a narrator describes the action during pauses in the dialogue. Audiences
can hear that a character sadly buries his face in his hands, for example, or that someone
is creeping through a darkened hallway.

Newscasts, sports coverage (which typically includes play by play descriptions) and talk
shows would be exempt from the rules because the regular audio is generally sufficient to
allow a vision impaired audience to follow those programs.

Jeffery Bobeck, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, said the
association was studying the proposal and would comment later. But in the three years that
the rules have been under discussion, a number of broadcasters have pointed out that in
some markets the secondary channel is already used for r Spanish and other foreign
language audio, a potential conflict. The cost of providing video descriptions is another
concern among broadcasters, whose comments on equipment and programming costs are being
solicited by the FCC in the period of broader public comment that will now ensue.

The Video description rules were unanimously approved by Mr. Kennard and the four other
commissioners last Thursday but will not become final until after the public comment
period lasting several months. They are to be modeled on the existing closed captioning
rules for hearing impaired - that is, they are to require initially that network
affiliated broadcasters in the top 25 television markets provide video descriptions for
roughly four hours a week of prime time programming or children's programming. This
standard, which the broadcasters would have to meet no later than 18 months after final
approval of the rules, would later be expanded to more hours.
Although the proposal is limited to analog broadcasting, it could later be applied to the
emerging digital broadcasting as well as to cable operators, satellite operators and home
satellite dish providers.
Public television has been active in the video description effort for more than a decade.
WGBH in Boston for example, began to narrate the popular programs "Masterpiece
Theater" and "Nature" in the 1980's
Charles Crawford, executive director of the American Council of the Blind, said people
with loss of vision were at a disadvantage in communicating with friends and colleagues
about popular culture because they missed so much of what occurred in sitcoms and
television dramas.
"This is a victory for access, and for the family," Mr. Crawford said of the
proposal. "it will relieve the burden of having a loved one describe what is
happening on television."
Margaret Pfanstiehl, chairwoman of the National Television Video Access Coalition, called
the proposal an "Enormous victory."
Mrs. Pfanstiehl who was awarded an Emmy in 1990 for her leadership and persistence in
making television accessible to those with vision problems, said description of on screen
action would be important for people of all ages.
And Chet Avery, a blind retired administrator for the Education Department, who attended
the meeting where the FCC approved the rules last week said: "Everyone is going to
win as a result of this. Access is going to be expanded and isn't that what democracy is
all about?"